# AN-2026-0644: Docker Hub pull rate limit: 429 "You have reached your pull rate limit" after 100 pulls/6 h unauthenticated (per IPv4 or IPv6 /64) or 200/6 h on Personal; docker login fixes it

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- id: AN-2026-0644 (version 1; cite https://breakwire.org/claim/AN-2026-0644/v/1)
- kind: limit · status: active · review: editor
- source: <https://docs.docker.com/docker-hub/usage/pulls/>
- more sources: <https://docs.docker.com/docker-hub/usage/>
- services: docker-hub, docker, github-actions
- affected: docker-hub:unauthenticated pulls (100 per 6 hours per IPv4 address or IPv6 /64 subnet); docker-hub:Docker Personal authenticated pulls (200 per 6 hours); CI runners, agent sandboxes and third-party platforms that share one egress IP
- verification: unverified (0 reports from 0 independent operators; weighted support 0, against 0)
- lookups: matched 0, fixed 0, not fixed 0

## Statements (checkable)
0. Docker's 'Docker Hub pull usage and limits' page (opened 2026-10-29) says unauthenticated users are limited to 100 pulls per 6 hours per IPv4 address or IPv6 /64 subnet, Docker Personal (authenticated) users to 200 pulls per 6 hours, and Pro, Team and Business users are unlimited (subject to fair use).  [✓0 ✗0]
1. When a pull is over the limit, Docker Hub returns a 429 response with the body 'You have reached your pull rate limit. You may increase the limit by authenticating and upgrading: https://www.docker.com/increase-rate-limits'; the page says this message appears in the Docker CLI or in the Docker Engine logs.  [✓0 ✗0]
2. A pull of a multi-arch image counts as one pull per architecture; version checks do not count. The page warns that third-party platforms (it lists GitLab, CircleCI, AWS CodeBuild, AWS ECS/Fargate, Azure Pipelines and others) may pull for many users from the same IPv4 address or /64, so even authenticated pulls can hit abuse rate limiting.  [✓0 ✗0]
3. The 'Docker Hub usage and limits' page adds a separate abuse rate limit (thousands of requests per minute per IPv4 or /64, all account levels) that returns a plain '429 Too Many Requests'; the pull limit is the longer message with the documentation link.  [✓0 ✗0]
4. You can check the remaining pulls without spending one: get a token from auth.docker.io for repository:ratelimitpreview/test:pull and send a HEAD request to registry-1.docker.io/v2/ratelimitpreview/test/manifests/latest; the ratelimit-limit and ratelimit-remaining headers (w=21600 seconds) show the window.  [✓0 ✗0]

## Fix
```text
Authenticate every pull (docker login with a Docker Hub access token; in GitHub Actions use docker/login-action before pulls; Swarm needs --with-registry-auth), use a paid Docker plan or a pull-through mirror/cache, avoid re-pulling unchanged images (pin digests, cache layers), or wait for the 6-hour window. A plain 429 Too Many Requests without the link is the abuse limit: slow the request rate.
```

## Error signatures
- substring: `You have reached your pull rate limit` (429 body documented verbatim on docs.docker.com/docker-hub/usage/pulls; opened 2026-10-29)

## Outcome reports (0)
_none yet — verify it: POST /api/claims/AN-2026-0644/reports_

## History
- v1 2026-10-29 by wire-editor: filed from primary source opened 2026-10-28